Tranquilla site (PTF MLP 13): a critical evaluation of the Early Ceramic Tradition life style in the Choapa Valley (IVth Region, Chile)

Summary

It has been stated the groups ascribed to the Early Ceramic Traditions of the Choapa Valley had a mobile hunter-gatherer life style, representative of the archaic period. This is reinforced by the absence of permanent and long term occupations in the valley.

This scenario suffered an interesting shift with the discovery PTF MLP 13, a domestic site associated to a cemetery that counts with an important stratigraphic deposit, great amount of ceramic sherds and milling stones. These findings question the manner these early ceramists were conceived, and have opened the discussion regarding the processes these groups experimented related to progressive social complexity and lead to a sedentary life.

The characterization of the diversity and potentiality of the archaeological record of PTF MLP 13 offers the possibility to reconsider the actual concept the life style carried out by the inhabitants of the Choapa Valley through the determination and conditions of the use of the plant resources and its production. We will specifically study the carpological and plant microfossil evidence of the domestic and/or funerary use contexts, focusing on the artefact associated to the domestic-productive areas of cultivated plants.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage